A Project Genesis website

Becoming a Man at 13

Answered by Rabbi Azriel SchreiberFurther responses from Rabbi Yosef Schlussel

Question

Why does a boy become a man at age 13?

Answer

The concept that manhood begins at age 13 is deduced by the Rabbis from the story of Dinah in Gen. 34, where it says (v.25) that Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi took “each man his sword” and attacked the city where Dinah was a captive. At that time, Levi was just 13, so we see that a boy of 13 is called a man. In Judaism, a boy becomes responsible for observing all the commandments when he reaches the age of 13; he is therefore called “bar mitzvah” — “subject to commandment”. At that point he is no longer legally a minor and is personally accountable for his deeds. However, according to the Talmud (Shabbos 89b), Divine punishment for a boy’s sins is postponed until he reaches the age of 20, possibly to give him a chance to repent and reform.

Follow-up questions (2)

Question

I have a question regarding the JewishAnswerspost: Re:Becoming a Man at 13
Posted on: 2005-11-22 14:42:53

Is it customary for a person who was bar mitzvad at age 13 to have another bar mitzva at age 83. I will be 83 this coming June. Thank you

Answer

First let me wish you many more healthy and happy years and
congratulations on reaching such a milestone.
As far as I know there is no formal celebration for this type of Bar
Mitzvah as there is for turning 13. At the same time, there is worth in
marking a significant milestone in ones life, and especially when
related to a thirteenth year.
I assume you ask regarding your 83rd birthday since David notes in
Psalms that a man’s “normal” lifespan is 70 years. Thus, 13 years into
one’s “second” lifetime translates to year 83. We do find various
figures in Jewish history who described the 13th year from some event
(other than birth) as a significant milestone. Therefore, I believe that
although it is not normally customary to have another bar miztvah, it
would be more than appropriate to mark such an occasion with celebration
within the context of reflection of the past, thanks to God, and prayers
for the future.

If you have any further questions, please free to respond.

Question

I would like to know the timeline regarding becoming a Bar Mitzvah. If the birthday is December 29 for the boy then when does he become a Bar Mitzvah? Also please explain the steps.

Answer

The way to determine when someone is becomes a bar mitzva is by looking at a Jewish calendar on the day of birth, and then on that day 13 years later will be the bar mitzvah.

There are a number of differences between the Gregorian calendar (our solar calendar – January, Feb…) and the Jewish calendar. Besides a different system of months and days, another difference is when the day is considered to start. The Gregorian calendar day is from 12:00am to 11:59pm. The Jewish calendar starts its day from sundown of the previous day until sundown of that day. That is why the Shabbat isn’t all day Saturday rather it starts Friday night and ends Saturday night.

That said, in order to determine when a bar mitzvah would be, one would need to know the date (Gregorian calendar), year, and time of birth. With that information you would look it up on a calendar which had both the Jewish and English date for 13 years.

So in your case of December 29th it depends on the year and time of day. If you are referring to Tuesday, December 29th, 1992 – born during the day – that was the 5th day of the month Tevet which turns out 13 years later to be January 5th 2006 � just a few days ago.
If you are a bit computer savvy and want a free download of a full functioning Gregorian/Jewish calendar with all dates go to this web site and you can download the calendar.
All the best,
Rabbi Yosef Schlussel